OP-ED: The Russification of the NRA

By James Lamond and Chelsea Parsons

New revelations come to light every day about the degree and depth of Russia’s interference in the 2016 election. One recent bombshell: The FBI is reportedly investigating whether Russia tried to help elect President Trump by funneling money through the National Rifle Association.

The notion — that the deputy governor of Russia’s central bank, who is a close ally of President Vladimir Putin, may have illegally moved money through the NRA — may strike some as strange.

But the Russian banker, Alexander Torshin, is a lifetime member of the NRA who met Donald Trump Jr. at the 2016 NRA convention in Kentucky, when Torshin was also reportedly trying to arrange a meeting between Trump and Putin. And Torshin himself has been previously accused of money laundering, though he has denied any wrongdoing and was never charged.